00:00The bodies of four missing scuba divers in the Maldives were located on Monday
00:04after an accident in underwater caves killed a group of five Italians last week.
00:09A specialist team led by Finnish cave divers found them during a technically demanding
00:14and emotionally challenging operation, according to the Dan Europe Diving Network.
00:19It said the specialists also managed to gather the information needed to plan the body's recovery.
00:24The first body had been found on Friday in search efforts overseen by Maldives President Mohamed Mwizu.
00:31The five had set off to explore caves in the Vavu Atoll at a depth of 165 feet on Thursday,
00:38according to Italy's foreign ministry.
00:40Local media said the crew of the dive boat they were traveling on reported them missing when they failed to
00:45resurface.
00:46This is the biggest tragedy of this type in the Maldives.
00:51Chief Presidential Spokesperson Mohamed Hussain Sharif said authorities are investigating the procedures ahead of their dive.
00:58What I can tell you for certain, though, was they were qualified.
01:02They have dived in the Maldives, not just recreationally, but also technically,
01:07on a number of occasions and was very familiar with the country and diving.
01:12He said this was a technical diving incident,
01:14as the country restricts the recreational diving industry to depths of less than 100 feet underwater.
01:19The first body was recovered from inside a cave structure about 200 feet deep, the Maldives military said.
01:27Four of the victims were part of a University of Genoa team,
01:30while the fifth has been identified as an Italian diving instructor.
01:34A Maldives military diver has also died from decompression illness following recovery efforts that were hampered by bad weather on
01:42Saturday.
01:42A Maldives military W HELPario
01:44Family
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